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SEMCO Accepts Wood and Offers Free Wood-Chips

The landfill where Washington’s solid waste is disposed is accepting scrap wood. The Southeast Iowa Multi-County Solid Waste Agency, also called SEMCO, has started accepting lumber and brush for a lower fee than other waste disposal. SEMCO has been offering the wood waste diversion program as a way to more cheaply get rid of lumber, pallets, and brush that are free of contamination. But it’s okay if the wood has nails, screws, or staples in it. Equipment at the landfill removes most of the metal as it is ground down into wood chips. Those chips are available to the public for free.

People interested in wood chips are asked to call ahead, and they also need to load their own wood chips into their vehicles. The cost of disposing of wood is 30 dollars per ton, which is nearly half-off the tipping fee for other solid waste. SEMCO is located near Richland.